CHICAGO: Transit Developments

[emathias]

Originally Posted by ardecila

From RedEye
A Clybourn bus would be nice, especially with all the growth that has occurred on that corridor since the route was deleted. It will have to navigate the clusterf*ck that is North/Clybourn, though....

Clybourn is difficult most of its way. It only runs from Division to Belmont. I can see why it was dropped. But, I think if it were properly connected it could become used enough to justify.

If I were creating the route, I'd probably run it from the Belmont Blue Line stop, south along Clybourn to Larrabee to Chicago to Kingsbury to Grand and then south on Wells to Van Buren and back north on Franklin/Orleans to Grand. That way you'd serve that whole part of western River North that is radically different than it used to be and could benefit from a direct route to the commercial area along Clybourn, as well as a tie-in to the financial district. Alternately you could also have it go east on Jackson to Grant Park, as a useful route for the north areas to get to Grant Park, or South Loop Residents who don't like the subway to get to the Clybourn commercial areas.

[pottebaum]

CTA's Huberman eyed for public school chief

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...,2306701.story

[ChicagoChicago]

Originally Posted by pottebaum

CTA's Huberman eyed for public school chief

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...,2306701.story

I'd prefer to keep him at the head of the CTA. I think he's done a great job so far. Long way to go though.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by ChicagoChicago

I'd prefer to keep him at the head of the CTA. I think he's done a great job so far. Long way to go though.

I completely agree. There's still a lot to do, so I hope he gets left there for at least another couple years. It may not be his first choice, but I think he's really done a lot, and could do even more if he stuck around. We should import a new schools chief, IMO

[Abner]

Does Huberman have relevant education experience? I think there's a big difference between running the CTA and running the schools. Running the CTA seems to be mostly about efficiency and sound decision-making--relatively transferable skills--whereas running the schools seems to require more substantive knowledge about education (not necessarily through teaching--Duncan has never been a teacher). The CTA's performance has improved drastically during Huberman's tenure--though I realize that some of those gains are at the expense of future income--but I think the schools should be managed by someone who combines executive ability with deep knowledge of education. Hopefully the federal climate will change enough that whoever heads the CTA for the next few years won't have to put the agency into as much debt to keep it from falling apart.

[arenn]

Huberman is awesome. I think he'd do great at CPS - however, it will be a big blow to the CTA. I wonder, though, whether Huberman might not have wanted out of the CTA. He's doing the Lord's work over there, but there's a limit to what can be accomplished unless the region decides to up its commitment to transit funding, which doesn't appear to be in the cards. That must be very frustrating to Huberman.

[VivaLFuego]

Irrespective of the particulars of the personalities/qualifications, I can't say it would be a good thing to send the CTA bureaucracy into another round of turmoil with complete turnover in the executive ranks, reorganization of responsibilities, and revision of company goals/strategy. Such things are inevitable with a change in administration, and periodically necessary, since after a while the deficiencies of one administrative regime can come to light in serious ways (e.g. track maintenance under Kruesi). But an organization in constant tumult will always be chasing its tail and unable to engage in anything resembling actual business strategy in terms of transforming business operations and employing long-term plans to restructure costs & revenues, and adapt service to the constantly changing environment. This sounds jargony, but people who've spent time working in either government agencies or public corporations with high visibility (visibility which comes with the imperative for new blood to "quick! do something!") probably know what I'm getting at about the sort of morale-killing, productivity-clamping turmoil inherent with the drastic change that follows a new chief executive.

I guess my point being, even regardless of the merits/criticisms of Huberman's tenure at CTA, the transit organization would suffer some major setbacks as it retools with a new batch of administrators. Depending on what CPS's problem is (if it is management/organizational/financial in nature), Huberman could do a lot of good there, but from what I've seen I'd say he hasn't quite finished the job of transforming CTAs operations into something more viable long term that isn't just limping from one crisis to the next, though he's made some progress.

[Abner]

Crain's and Chicago Public Radio are reporting that the Huberman choice is confirmed:
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=32751

I agree with Viva. Daley could have given us only one humongous, critical agency with a new chief executive, and now we will have two. How much credibility can Huberman present at CPS if people are going to think that Daley will keep bouncing him around?

[alex1]

are performance metrics now coming to a CPS school near you?

seriously, seems that Carol Brown would be a good replacement. She's been as transparent as any public official has been in Chicago in my lifetime.

I'm not at all saddened by this news. Huberman will have the most important job of his life ahead of him. I'm curious to see if his approach is holistic rather then just test driven.

[whyhuhwhy]

Originally Posted by alex1

I'm curious to see if his approach is holistic rather then just test driven.

How would one measure academic performance objectively "holistically?"

[Attrill]

Originally Posted by Abner

How much credibility can Huberman present at CPS if people are going to think that Daley will keep bouncing him around?

He will have credibility because people know he has Daley's ear.

I think Carol Brown would be an excellent chice as a replacement, and would continue to build on what Huberman has accomplished.

Originally Posted by whyhuhwhy

How would one measure academic performance objectively "holistically?"

Retention rates, graduation rates, number of students continuing on to college, employment after graduation, etc... Basically real life things.

[VivaLFuego]

Originally Posted by Attrill

I think Carol Brown would be an excellent chice as a replacement, and would continue to build on what Huberman has accomplished.

Not sure why she'd take the pay cut / demotion. She was a banker with Lehmann and landed at Mesirow, I believe, which I assume is only temporary before she moves back up to the big leagues.

[alex1]

Originally Posted by whyhuhwhy

How would one measure academic performance objectively "holistically?"

it seems to me that in recent years, an emphasis has been put in teaching to the test vs. looking at broader ways to improve education. We've begun to place an emphasis on things like charter schools in recent years but I'm not sure they're the solution. They are helping bring the teacher unions in line to some degree and will eventually lead to breaking down tenure rules, which IMO is vital to a better CPS.

But the bigger question will be how do you improve student achievement? Involved parents helps an immeasurable deal but what happens when you can't count on parent involvement? what do you do in a school systems when the parents are many times the problem?

Not to mention that longer range plans need to be addressed. At some point, the school system will again begin to gentrify. How will that be done smoothly? What steps will be taken to update the curriculum and how will technology influence the way children learn?

When it comes down to it, telling some kids to memorize the details of a picture is a lot less useful then having them break down why the details in the picture were chosen.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by alex1

it seems to me that in recent years, an emphasis has been put in teaching to the test vs. looking at broader ways to improve education. We've begun to place an emphasis on things like charter schools in recent years but I'm not sure they're the solution. They are helping bring the teacher unions in line to some degree and will eventually lead to breaking down tenure rules, which IMO is vital to a better CPS.

But the bigger question will be how do you improve student achievement? Involved parents helps an immeasurable deal but what happens when you can't count on parent involvement? what do you do in a school systems when the parents are many times the problem?

Not to mention that longer range plans need to be addressed. At some point, the school system will again begin to gentrify. How will that be done smoothly? What steps will be taken to update the curriculum and how will technology influence the way children learn?

When it comes down to it, telling some kids to memorize the details of a picture is a lot less useful then having them break down why the details in the picture were chosen.

Take this to a seperate, NON-TRANSIT thread, please.

[alex1]

Originally Posted by emathias

Take this to a seperate, NON-TRANSIT thread, please.

or just ignore it and get back to the topic. I'm just answering a question.

perhaps the discussion should have focused on who's next in line for CTA boss...

[Attrill]

Originally Posted by VivaLFuego

Not sure why she'd take the pay cut / demotion. She was a banker with Lehmann and landed at Mesirow, I believe, which I assume is only temporary before she moves back up to the big leagues.

Yeah - it looks like she is interested in heading to Washington.

The linked article has a good example of why I think her name keeps popping up as the possible replacement:

At board meetings, Huberman and Brown sometimes seem like an old married couple, even finishing each other's sentences.

[arenn]

The CTA needs a strong chairman/president combo. The great thing Huberman brought was his operational and organizational change capabilities. We need someone else in that mode running the CTA, someone who is going to stay the course with Hubeman's program and won't feel the need to send things off in a different direction just to put his stamp on things. The Chairman needs to be out there getting the politics and funding right to get the game changed. Two different interest areas if you ask me.

[honte]

^ I vote for VivaLFuego

[schwerve]

Originally Posted by honte

^ I vote for VivaLFuego

2nd-ed

[emathias]

I hear the governor may be needing a job here soon, maybe he'd be interested ...

*ducks*